Page:Dio's Roman History, tr. Cary - Volume 1.djvu/71

enemy, but he absolutely despised and neglected the worship of the gods, until, during the occurrence of a pestilence, he himself fell sick. Then, indeed, he paid the strictest regard to all the gods, and in particular established the Salii Collini.

Marcius came to realize that it is not enough for men who desire peace to refrain from injuring others, and that inoffensiveness without aggressiveness is not a means of safety, but the more one strives after peace the more vulnerable does one become to the mass of mankind; and he accordingly changed his policy. He saw that the desire for quiet is not effective as a safeguard unless accompanied by equip-

Zonaras 7, 6.

gods. But when a pestilence visited the Romans and he himself fell sick, [he turned aside to superstition]. He is said to have met his end [by being consumed by lightning, or else] as the result of a plot formed by Ancus Marcius, who was, as we have stated, a son of Numa's daughter. He was king of the Romans thirty-two years.

Zonaras 7, 7.

B.C. 640 7. Marcius succeeded Hostilius, receiving the kingdom as a voluntary gift from the Romans. He was not perfect in his arm, for he was maimed at the joint [ankylê], whence he got the nickname Ancus. Though naturally mild, he was compelled to change his policy, and so turned his attention to campaigns.